Apple is closing in on finishing up work on OS X Mavericks ahead of its public launch, according to a source familiar with the new operating system’s development. This source says that the operating system will reach Golden Master status internally by the end of this week or early next week, and it will be labeled as a build number in the high 13A590s or low 13A600s. This will be a slight increase over the current developer build that is version 13A584....

Apple has inexplicably removed the iCloud Activation Lock status page, which used to exist at iCloud.com/activationlock, but that URL now leads to a 404 error instead. The utility let anyone type in the IMEI or serial number of an iOS device to find out if Activation Lock had been turned off, handy to verify the authenticity of a seller when buying a used iPhone online. References to the web page have been removed from Apple’s support documentation, indicating this is not a temporary issue and the page has been intentionally pulled from service …...

Following the October surprise bankruptcy filed by GT Advanced Technologies—a key sapphire supplier for the iPhone—Apple today announced plans to invest $2 billion over the next 30 years in the failed plant. The Mesa, Arizona-located plant will become the central command center for its various data centers around the globe. Shortly after the bankruptcy announcement from GT Advanced Technologies, Apple described the decision as surprising while adding that the company would focus on job preservation....

AppShopper AppShopper is a universal app for finding apps. Download it directly to your iDevice to find new apps and when they’re on sale. When you launch AppShopper, you get a list of the most popular apps that got a price drop, have been updated or are new to the iTunes App Store. A feature I really like is the Wish List. It lets you add apps to the list and will notify you if there is a price drop or sale on it....

An analyst has suggested that antitrust issues are the single biggest threat to AAPL, and that company execs should outline plans to address the matter during today’s earnings call. We’re expecting to hear good news today, the Wall Street consensus anticipating revenue of $72.93 billion for the quarter, which would be dramatically up on the same quarter last year … However, there could be choppier waters ahead on the antitrust front, and Reuters reports that some investors will expect to hear what Apple plans to do to minimize the threats to its business model....

Update: According to Apple, the problem has already been solved. The Apple Support account on Twitter suggests that users who are still experiencing the issue should restart the devices. Apple’s System Status webpage indicates today that some users may experience problems with the App Store. The company says that App Store users “are experiencing a problem with this service,” and that they are “investigating this issue.” According to developers, it’s not currently possible to successfully get in-app purchases....

During a call with investors for its Q4 2015 earnings report today, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company saw its highest rate ever of Android switchers last quarter with a record 30% of new iPhone buyers coming from the rival platform. Apple reported sales of 48 million iPhone units for the quarter, which would mean around 14.4 million Android switchers in the last three months. Cook noted that the switcher number comes from those who purchased an iPhone last quarter and also upgraded from a smartphone....

Fortune is out with its latest Global 500 today ranking the world’s largest 500 companies by revenue and Apple has once again landed at #15 on the list. Apple comes in behind #1 Wal-mart, a long list of petroleum companies, Volkswagen, Toyota, and #13 Samsung. After a bumpy start to 2014, Apple’s stock finished the year up 40%, adding nearly $200 billion to the company’s market value. A product pipeline that’s gotten Apple fanboys lining up all over again has certainly helped reenergize revenue growth: In addition to unveiling new categories like Apple Pay and Apple Watch, the company launched the iPhone 6, selling a record-breaking 10 million units in the first three days....

Apple and Google introduced a new COVID-19 Exposure Notification API in May this year, which allows public health authorities to offer apps that can alert users when they have been exposed to the virus. The API is now getting more improvements to allow more flexibility in how the data obtained by these apps is managed and more. The update to the COVID-19 Exposure Notification API was announced by Google today and it includes a number of changes to make exposure notifications even more capable and flexible....

The Next Web reported on the eve of the October 4 unveiling that iPhone 4S would have “more definitive GPS features”, leaving many watchers scratching their head. The cryptic hint has now been deciphered by Russian-language iPhones.ru which first spotted a mention of GLONASS on Apple’s iPhone 4S specs page, apparently added recently (see the screenshot below). Another report by iGuides.ru went on to speculate that the quiet addition of GLONASS could be related to the fact that the Russian government threatened to ban the importation of cell phones that do not support this technology....

The redesigned Apple Maps interface came to the United Kingdom earlier this month, offering Look Around, improved cartography, and much more. Now, Apple appears to be in the early stages of rolling out this redesigned Apple Maps experience to users in Canada. Once the new Apple Maps interface has fully rolled out in Canada, it will be the “largest yet” expansion of the new Apple Maps data. In January of this year, Apple officially completed the rollout of the rebuilt Apple Maps in the United States....

Update: Apple tells Business Insider that “apps won’t be denied on the grounds that they work with Pebble.” With the Apple Watch debuting tomorrow with well over 1,000 WatchKit apps already on the App Store, Apple may now be rejecting app submissions and updates that mention support for the competing Pebble smartwatch. The developer of SeaNav US for iPhone shared on Pebble’s developer discussions forum that a recent update has been rejected by Apple as the app and description “declare support for thePebble Smartwatch....

Apple is delaying support for storing ID cards in the Wallet app until 2022. The company announced this feature at WWDC in June, initially promising that it would be released in “late 2021.” As some of us suspected might occur, this release date has now been pushed to 2022. Apple Pay VP Jennifer Bailey announced the feature during Apple’s WWDC 2021 keynote. Bailey explained during the keynote that this is the final thing that Apple needs to bring to the Wallet app to let you be “fully free of your physical wallet....

Apple has announced to developers that it will be dropping support for SSL 3.0 on its push notification service on October 29th in order to mitigate a vulnerability discovered in the software recently. Developers who currently support both TLS and SSL 3.0 on their push servers will not be impacted by the change, but those using SSL 3.0 exclusively will need to switch to TLS before next Wednesday to ensure there is no disruption in their service....

Today we’re going to be comparing Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus to Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4. I realized that there are a limited range of “comparisons” that can happen between these two devices, but we’re going to touch on some of the most important factors between the two such as design, software, features, and cameras. I’m not going to make this a battle between iOS and Android as many people have their own preferences which lead them to one platform or another....

Apollo for Reddit is one of the most powerful and popular third-party Reddit apps for iOS, and a new update this weekend takes makes further improvements. The update brings improvements to media viewing, new app icons, iPadOS cursor support, and more. Version 1.8 of Apollo for Reddit makes numerous improvements to the media viewing experience. For instance, videos now play inline in the feed, while you can also now pause GIFs and much more:...

Apple has released a nice update for developers today with App Store Connect on iOS now allowing the creation of multiple TestFlight groups including the ability to configure build access for each group. App Store Connect 1.7 is available now with the improved TestFlight features being the headlining change. The update also includes bug fixes and stability improvements. The new TestFlight group functionality allows developers to be more efficient and effective with getting feedback from beta testers via iOS....

Supply shortages are affecting an array of industries right now, and Apple is not immune. In addition to shortages impacting the Mac and iPad, the Apple Watch is also being indirectly affected as third-party accessory makers struggle to obtain supply of Apple Watch chargers. In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman at Bloomberg reports that supply shortages have hit some Apple Watch accessory makers. Smaller accessory companies are reportedly facing issues acquiring supply of Apple’s proprietary charging pucks to integrate them into their own accessories....

Apple today has confirmed that it is now charging sales tax on TV, movie, music, and audiobook iTunes purchases in Canada. The change first went into effect last week, and now Apple is confirming the new policy. In a statement to Rene Ritchie, Apple explained that due to changes in Canadian legislation, it is now required to collect sales tax on TV, movies, music, and audiobooks. This includes Apple Music subscriptions, as well....

Expanding upon its previously announced programs to return cash to investors, Apple today announced that it will use a total of $200 billion of cash by the end of March 2017 to fund the repurchase of Apple stock and the payment of dividends. The enhanced capital return program authorizes the purchase of an additional $50 billion of Apple shares, now totaling $140 billion, settles vesting restricted stock units, and increases Apple’s stock dividend by 11% to $0....